


all i would ask for

by ohallows



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fictober, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 19:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21020921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohallows/pseuds/ohallows
Summary: Fictober prompts Day 13: “I never knew it could be this way.”





	all i would ask for

**Author's Note:**

> so fictober actually has some v nice and sweet prompts so i decided to jump in to the motw love ben meredith has rekindled in my spirit and write a bunch of bette/cleo + sam bc this is what we as a people deserve 
> 
> i don’t think i really have a voice for sam or cleo yet???? i’m working on it. maybe do a relisten

Bette gets home late one night - she’d had a particularly difficult case, a new family who hadn’t worked out and she’d had to bring it up with the council - to hear Cleo and Sam talking in the front room. She’d closed the door to the house quietly behind herself and crept to the kitchen before she heard them; she’s not _ trying _ to eavesdrop, is the thing, it’s just half midnight and she’d assumed they’d both be asleep by now. They’re talking quietly, but neither of them seem to have noticed her making it in. 

“I dunno,” Sam is saying. “I never knew it could be this way, I guess?” Their voice cracks on ‘I guess’ and Bette bites her lip where she stands outside the door, reminded once again how _ young _ the kid is. They don’t know their age; the adoption agency hadn’t had the correct paperwork, just a kid claiming they were eighteen and didn’t need to be adopted, but if Bette had to hazard a guess, she’d put them at about 12 when they were first brought to the agency. 

“What do you mean, Sam?” Cleo asks, and Bette leans forward a bit, straining to hear. 

“You know, like. Happy, n’all.” And oh, if that doesn’t just break Bette’s heart. Sam still hasn’t told either of them what they’d been through before their file had made its way across Bette’s desk and she’d decided to step in and help.

“Just. You and Bette, taking me in. You didn’t have to do that, but. Thanks.” 

“Sam, you know you don’t have to thank us for that,” Cleo says, voice soft in a way it only is around people she loves.

“Yeah, I know, but you and Bette just -“ Sam lets out a frustrated breath. “Before you two adopted me I didn’t really have anything? So I guess I just - I dunno. It’s almost been three years now.” 

Bette knows. She has a reminder on the calendar hanging on the fridge, on her phone, on her nightstand, and Cleo and her have been planning a surprise party for Sam coming up next week. 

“Maybe I’m just tired, I just… I didn’t really think I’d get to have this, ever? So I’m glad. And. Thanks. I’ll tell Bette too, I just. It felt like the right time?” 

Bette doesn’t hear what Cleo says after that. Instead, she creeps back to the front door, feeling slightly guilty, but even that is undercut by a rushing sense of affection for Sam, and she opens the door and closes it, louder than before. “Evening, you two!” she calls, acting as though she’s just gotten back. Cleo and Sam both appear around the corner a few moments later and she gives them both a hug, pressing a brief kiss to Cleo’s lips as she does. “Good night?”

Sam nods, and surreptitiously rubs at their eyes. “Never better, how was work? Kicked some arse on the council?” 

“Language,” Bette reminds them, and Sam rolls their eyes good-naturedly. 

“That’s not even a bad _ swear, _ Bette!” they whinge, drawing out her name. 

“My house, my rules. No swearing until you’re eighteen,” Bette says, and Sam groans. “Hey, I made Cleo stop swearing too! It’s not just you.”

“She did,” Cleo confirms, coming up behind Bette and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Awful inconvenient.”

“Whatever, fine, I’m going to bed,” Sam announces. 

“Night, love,” Bette says, and Sam dutifully bends down so that she can give them a kiss on the forehead. They head off down the hallway and both Bette and Cleo watch as they go. 

“They alright?” she asks Cleo in a whisper once Sam’s back in their room, leaning against her chest.

“Yeah, nothing to fret about,” Cleo whispers back. “You were standing outside, weren’t you,” Cleo says - she knows Bette too well for it to be a question - but there’s a slight fond smile on her face, so Bette knows she isn’t in any sort of real trouble.

“I got home a bit early and didn’t want to interrupt,” she says by way of explanation, and Cleo glances back toward Sam’s room. 

“They’ll be fine, love,” Cleo says, and presses a kiss to Bette’s forehead. “Saved you a plate in the fridge if you’re hungry. Come to bed soon?”

“Always,” Bette says, tugging Cleo back and giving her a proper kiss on the lips before letting her go. “I’ll be up after a quick bite.”

Cleo holds her hands until she’s stepped too far away to continue, and Bette feels them drop back to her side. “I’ll try and wait up for you. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Bette says, heading off to the fridge to grab the plate. She can eat dinner cold, anyway; she just wants to get back upstairs and nestle into Cleo’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this feels super disjointed i just wanted to get something out. considering backtracking fictober as well and doing a bette/cleo series for Reasons


End file.
